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Prospect Info: Quinton Byfield (2nd Overall 2020 Draft) Discussion part II

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I agree with the lack of "wow" moments and strongly disagree with the thought process that there have been a lot of them but then the production just hasn't been there after these supposed moments. What you do get a lot of is "Ok..here we go!!" as he appears to get the puck in a good spot but then he fumbles it or he tries to chip it around the defenseman and retrieve it but doesn't get it back.

More "wow" type moments than Kopitar? Yikes. It's not even close. Hell...the goal by Kupari last game was more impressive than anything Byfield's done at the NHL level. Young Kopitar used to stick handle through center ice and wasn't always a defensive force. It took awhile before he became Perimetar.

I'm not throwing dirt on him at all but he's been very disappointing so far. We can blame everything and everyone but Byfield at this point and I'm fine with that for now. There is just a lot of reaching for the good plays while it is not difficult to find the bad ones. Project or not, there should not be so many puck-like-a-grenade moments. It's frustrating because I feel like the same thing happened last year in his NHL stint: he got worse as he got more games in.

I've criticized his lack of an alpha mentality as we've only seen it on Sudbury when he had to be that guy. Anytime he's been on a good team (I use that loosely with the 2021 LA Kings...I really just mean NHL players) he kind of becomes a wallflower. You'd like to see him just go for it and not worry about making mistakes because, shit, he's making them anyways while not flashing much at all. But, again, he is 19 and he just isn't "that guy". He's not coming in with that Simmonds or Clifford attitude as a teenager. He looked like he was going to shit his pants in the SJ game last Thursday when he sprayed ice on the goalie and got confronted over it. He legit looks like an overgrown kid out there which he kind of is.

Maybe playing with two other young guys on this mostly Ontario roster will unlock some confidence but I'm pretty down on the rest of the season for him. Love for him to prove me wrong but I stand by what I said a week ago or so that this offseason is huge for him.
 
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I’m concerned about Byfield. He has shown flashes but I’m worried that he flubs so much and is poked so much. In the same boat tho, more concerned than pronouncing DOA.
 
BigKing said:
I agree with the lack of "wow" moments and strongly disagree with the thought process that there have been a lot of them but then the production just hasn't been there after these supposed moments. What you do get a lot of is "Ok..here we go!!" as he appears to get the puck in a good spot but then he fumbles it or he tries to chip it around the defenseman and retrieve it but doesn't get it back.

More "wow" type moments than Kopitar? Yikes. It's not even close. Hell...the goal by Kupari last game was more impressive than anything Byfield's done at the NHL level. Young Kopitar used to stick handle through center ice and wasn't always a defensive force. It took awhile before he became Perimetar.

I'm not throwing dirt on him at all but he's been very disappointing so far. We can blame everything and everyone but Byfield at this point and I'm fine with that for now. There is just a lot of reaching for the good plays while it is not difficult to find the bad ones. Project or not, there should not be so many puck-like-a-grenade moments. It's frustrating because I feel like the same thing happened last year in his NHL stint: he got worse as he got more games in.

I've criticized his lack of an alpha mentality as we've only seen it on Sudbury when he had to be that guy. Anytime he's been on a good team (I use that loosely with the 2021 LA Kings...I really just mean NHL players) he kind of becomes a wallflower. You'd like to see him just go for it and not worry about making mistakes because, shit, he's making them anyways while not flashing much at all. But, again, he is 19 and he just isn't "that guy". He's not coming in with that Simmonds or Clifford attitude as a teenager. He looked like he was going to shit his pants in the SJ game last Thursday when he sprayed ice on the goalie and got confronted over it. He legit looks like an overgrown kid out there which he kind of is.

Maybe playing with two other young guys on this mostly Ontario roster will unlock some confidence but I'm pretty down on the rest of the season for him. Love for him to prove me wrong but I stand by what I said a week ago or so that this offseason is huge for him.
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He shows flashes with his speed and you could see what he wants to do but either loses the puck by himself or is stopped by a defender. I am hopeful when he grows and fills out a bit that his ability and vision align and he can have his way through the neutral zone and offensive zone.
You mention his lack of alpha mentality and that is my biggest gripe with him at the moment. I wish he would throw some hits on the forecheck at least and muck it up. There was a play a couple games back where he couldve destroyed a guy coming through the neutral zone and he went for a poke instead.
I really hope he can develop a mean streak. I havent seen a guy with all the tools there to be a force and end up not putting any together and busting. So we will see in the long run but Im hoping by 21-22 years old he has it.
 
I think pairing him w Brown was a big mistake for several reason (and some of these are soft / unscientific hunches)- 1. The obvious mismatch of styles and skating, 2. Brown's declining play - where Byfield was covering for Brown, not visa versa - e.g if it was Kopi he theoretically could making life easier for him. 3. due to #2, if I were a kid playing with some declining vet and was giving me advice, id be thinking twice about taking it. 4. the generation gap / power dynamic.. you're not going to be comfortable making suggestions about doing something differently and def no criticisms.

2nd thing is.. he has gotten no PP or 3x3 time. This would be an opportunity get some time w the puck to make some moves and plays.. that could really help his confidence.. When you have given time to Jad, spence etc, he can only wonder why he hasnt gotten the chance after 20 games. So two fouls against Byfield by omitting him from the PP conversation.

Giving him the shootout attempt was good I guess - but you could tell his confidence was not good - i actually wouldve prefered not to use him there.. much prefer giving him some PP time first.

Thats all the stuff on coaches. There is plenty on his side - most of it already documented. He does seem timid, and not taking control when he can. If I were him, id start using my body more and driving through guys vs skating around them.. play more North American to wake up the animal inside.. and get out of his head.
 
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Byfield's best game was his first game against Colorado, when he did actually have some power play time - he looked confident and poised on the PP too. He had been on a roll at that time in Ontario, too. You could point to a lot of things causing his underwhelming play since - change of linemates, Brown, deployment (no PP time after that game), potentially the coaches, Byfield being an overgrown teenager - but at the end of the day he's a 19 year old figuring it all out in real time. I think when he does though it will start to snowball as we've seen in Ontario.
 
People shouldn't be concerned about Byfield, unless the Kings continue to play him over his head. He was never going to dominate the NHL at 19. I always thought Byfield would be one of those guys who starts hitting his stride at 21 and is a beast at 23.
Let Raymond score more at 19 as a passenger on line 1.
Byfield, if developed property, will drive a top line at the most valuable position in hockey at 23.
 
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Peter James Bond II said:
I have spent about 15 minutes looking for it. I wil never forget it, as I was disappointed. He said he wanted to keep his weight down, to keep his quckness.
I hope to find the article. Will keep searching for it.
Yes, he trains with Gary Roberts and the recent video of him working out, he has some pretty good biceps...but he's very lean.
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I recall it. I’m paraphrasing but I read it as he didn’t want to bulk up and get too heavy, not that he didn’t want to add some size and strength. He will also be guided by the team anyway, he certainly worked out hard over the summer and its not that easy to just go and add 10 lbs of muscle. That’s a lot of muscle weight to add in an off season, without using roid.
 
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LAKings88 said:
I’m hoping he can be a Tage Thompson type player eventually.
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Tage Thompson wasn't a Tage Thompson type player until age 24

AKA it's gonna take a lot more patience than people have in this thread

Hell people were calling Drai a bust for years, it's gonna be a fun time ahead dealing with all the negativity that's for sure. I'm just gonna see myself out of this one.
 
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Peter James Bond II said:
QB is just too adamant about using a short stick and also about wanting to be lean and not adding weight...to his detriment. He can easily add 10 pounds and will not lose quickness, or possibly a tiny fraction, but will be able to not only handle the physical rigors better, but be able to utilize his size as a strength. Not be pushed around and knocked down so easily.
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He is not open to getting a longer stick ? He looks stupid with the puck
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
Tage Thompson wasn't a Tage Thompson type player until age 24

AKA it's gonna take a lot more patience than people have in this thread

Hell people were calling Drai a bust for years, it's gonna be a fun time ahead dealing with all the negativity that's for sure. I'm just gonna see myself out of this one.
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No offense but Draisaitl has displayed much more skill. You can coach a player to be more effective but you can’t coach skill
 
Sol said:
No offense but Draisaitl has displayed much more skill. You can coach a player to be more effective but you can’t coach skill
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More ES Goals, waaayyy better possession and defensive stats, better faceoffs than 19 year old draisaitl and that's while QB is in 'terrible' mode.

Imagine what happens when people think he's simply below average.
 
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It’s going to take a couple years for all the kids. They should be ready to play in the top of the lineup when they’re 23-25 years old.
 
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Raccoon Jesus said:
Tage Thompson wasn't a Tage Thompson type player until age 24

AKA it's gonna take a lot more patience than people have in this thread

Hell people were calling Drai a bust for years, it's gonna be a fun time ahead dealing with all the negativity that's for sure. I'm just gonna see myself out of this one.
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If QB takes until he is 24 to be a 60 point player the ROI of the #2 pick is going to be poor. He has to develop quicker and into a better player.

The Draisaitl comment is not rooted in fact at all. Draisaitl put up 52 points in 72 games in his D+2 and 75 points in his D+3 and you think people were calling him a bust for YEARS? Please, no one called a 20 year old scoring at a 57 point pace a bust. If QB does that next year everyone would be very excited.
 
Herby said:
That all might be true. But citing Mark Yannetti when talking about evaluation of forwards isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. The guy has been great at finding defenseman, especially in the later rounds. But the Kings have left a lot of good players on the table early in drafts to (sorry to be frank) draft guys who simply have not turned out to be as good pro players.
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That's a really odd way to judge drafting. We don't know the thought at the table about the players was, how the interviews went, or the evaluation of character and talent level.

There's all kinds of things that are out of the team's control. Did the prospect have a mental breakthrough? A mental breakdown? Personal tragedy? Unforeseeable injury? Coaching/team turmoil in the junior league?
 
JohnWhite said:
That's a really odd way to judge drafting. We don't know the thought at the table about the players was, how the interviews went, or the evaluation of character and talent level.

There's all kinds of things that are out of the team's control. Did the prospect have a mental breakthrough? A mental breakdown? Personal tragedy? Unforeseeable injury? Coaching/team turmoil in the junior league?
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What are you talking about? I’m kind of lost, I’m talking about a results oriented business of evaluating, developing and deploying assets.

Mark Yannetti has been the Kings director of scouting for well over a decade and the team has had a very difficult time evaluating and developing scoring line forwards while being very good at doing the same with d-man, despite generally picking them lower than forwards.

This is the most important pick in his tenure as the Kings chief scout, so I get his optimism on draft night but ultimately it’s again a results oriented business, he needs this to hit.
 
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Herby said:
What are you talking about? I’m kind of lost, I’m talking about a results oriented business of evaluating, developing and deploying assets.

Mark Yannetti has been the Kings director of scouting for well over a decade and the team has had a very difficult time evaluating and developing scoring line forwards while being very good at doing the same with d-man, despite generally picking them lower than forwards.

This is the most important pick in his tenure as the Kings chief scout, so I get his optimism on draft night but ultimately it’s again a results oriented business, he needs this to hit.
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In my opinion, the Kings have shown the ability to judge talent. They have struggled with developing it.

In my eyes - the Kings cannot be bad at BOTH drafting and developing. Either the draft has provided enough talent that the development team has failed to grow, or the development team has not had good enough talent provided from the draft.
 
Herby said:
What are you talking about? I’m kind of lost, I’m talking about a results oriented business of evaluating, developing and deploying assets.
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That's what I don't understand. Evaluation for a draft is a point-in-time process. There are things that the development team can control after a draft that the scouting team can't. And things that no one on the team can control. That's what goes into the delta between the draft evaluation and the player's career.

Judging on the pure results for drafting just doesn't make sense. There's too much chance involved.
 
Herby said:
If QB takes until he is 24 to be a 60 point player the ROI of the #2 pick is going to be poor. He has to develop quicker and into a better player.

The Draisaitl comment is not rooted in fact at all. Draisaitl put up 52 points in 72 games in his D+2 and 75 points in his D+3 and you think people were calling him a bust for YEARS? Please, no one called a 20 year old scoring at a 57 point pace a bust. If QB does that next year everyone would be very excited.
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Oh, they absolutely called him a bust nonstop on these forums. Maybe not on the Kings because we weren't as invested in the Canada wars, but Draisaitl didn't break 70 points until he was 21 and when he stepped back to 70 the following year, they were allll over him.

He didn't break 100 until he was 23.

If you can't wait at least another year or two, you might want to take a break.
 
Sol said:
Let’s hope you’re right. Draisaitl always displayed good handling with the puck. Don’t really see that with Qb and his play style
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Drai is probably more 'stylistically' like Vilardi than Byfield, I'm just thinking in terms of huge guys who clearly need to get comfortable with their bodies to be effective vs. pro men. Draisaitl, Wheeler, there aren't a ton to choose from. But the great majority of them take until 21 to pop a little, 23 to pop more, and in Wheeler's case, late 20s to fully emerge. There were a couple more I pulled in another thread but I'm so tired of talking about it at this point I forget. I'll look another time. But the patterns were similar, 'kids' that are 6'4.5 and above struggle mightily early on, by and large. It's no surprise, no matter what the 'problems' are.
 
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